Method of forming floating milled soap



pril 2,-1940. T, s EAGEN 2,195,399

' METHOD oF ORMING vFLOATING MILLED soAP Filed April 11, 1938 I. I l @fill/2 EG. 5 a.

INVENTOR. \/3a Th'aM/ns S. Ensae-N.

ATTORNEYAS.

Patented Apr. 2, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Thomas S. Eagen, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The Procter & Gamble Company, Ivorydale, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application April 11, 1938, Serial No. 201,317

12 Claims.

This application is a continuation-impart of my application Serial No. 65,079, led February My invention relates to the production of a milled toilet soap bar which will float in water. Those skilled in the art are aware that floating Soaps have been made by beating air into the molten kettle soap before the same is molded in the form of a cake. 'I'his process, however, is not applicable to the manufacture of a floating type of milled toilet soap since any air thus incorporated would unavoidably be largely expelled in the subsequent operations of drying and homogenizing which are necessary steps in the making of milled toilet soap.

Many individuals prefer the milled type of toilet soap for ordinary toilet use because of its smoothness, quick solubility, durability in use and the delicate perfumes which can be used only in 2 this type of soap, but dislike same for the bath solely because of its lack of floating properties and use in lieu thereof a floating type of soap which does not have milled soap properties.

Floating milled soaps have been proposed before but have not met with acceptance, probably because of uneconomical or impractical methods of production, or because of predominating undesirable characteristics of the bar in use.

In accordance with my invention, I am able to form a milled toilet soap bar having floating properties but having all the qualities, including outward appearance, of a normal bar of milled toilet soap.

My invention is adapted for the production of milled soap bars of all shapes and sizes, and especially the rectangular shaped ordinary size bar employed in the home and the miniature or hotel size commonly supplied in hotel rooms.

A preferred form of the invention as applied to the production of the ordinary size of milled bar is shown in Figures 1-6, and a preferred form as applied to the production of the miniature size is shown in Figures 4a, 5a and 6a. From this drawing taken in conjunction with the following description, the exact nature of my invention will become apparent.

' Figure 1 is a perspective of one of my floating milled soap bars;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of .one form of floating soap bar taken as indicated. by line 2-2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view of. one form of floating soap bar taken as indicated by line 3-3 in Figure l;

Figure 4 is a sectional view of one form of iloating soap bar taken as indicated by line 4-4 in Figure 1;

Figure 4a is a sectional view of another form of floating soap bar taken as indicated by line 4-4 in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken axially of the movement of the dies and showing in one form of myinvention displacing means in position after the cake is formed by the stamping dies;

Figure 5a is a sectional view taken axially of the movement of the dies and showing in another form of my invention, displacing means in position after the cake is formed by the stamping dies;

Figure 6 is a like view to Figure 5 of the cake of soap in the die box, displacing means removed and the dies for closing the open ends of the cavities being shown in open and closed position;

Figure 6a is a like View to Figure 5a of the cake of soap in the die box, displacing means removed and the die for closing the open ends of the cavities being shown in the closed position.

Referring rst to Figure 1, I0 designates a iinished bar of milled toilet soap made inv accordance with one aspect of my invention and therefore having floating properties. The bar contains a plurality of cavities I I, sufficient in number and volume to render the cake buoyant in water.

In the preparation of soap for use in my invention, the soap base is made in the usual. manner,

as by the ordinary kettle boiling process, for example, and crutched as usual. Then after partial cooling and drying to about fifteen per cent moisture content, it is milled in the regular manner to effect homogeneity and uniformity and is then transferred to a plodding' device of the usual type which plods the soap into' a rod of any suitable v shape or size, which is then cut into bars of the y desired length. Up to this point the procedure is the same as in making ordinary milled toilet soap.

Now in making a product such as that illustrated in Figures 1-6, the plodded blank bars at a moderately warm temperature and in a slightly plastic condition are then transferred to a die box indicated diagrammatically at I 2, provided with apertures I3 in two of the opposing sides thereof, which apertures are so designed as to I permit the insertion of displacing means I4. The displacing means I4 are inserted through the apertures in the two opposing faces of said die box after the plodded soap bar has been placed therein and penetrate into the Soap bar. The

formed by the displacing means.

top and bottom dies I5 and I6, respectively, are then brought into cake forming position, thereby stamping the top and bottom panels and partly rounding the edges of the bar. The soap mass being somewhat plastic is simultaneously pressed around the displacing means I4, thereby forming cavities substantially midway between the top and bottom panels ofthe substantially finished bar. After the dies I5 and I6 employed for the shaping the top and bottom panels of the soap bar are returned to their initial position, the displacing means I4 are removed and shell dies I1 and I8 are then used to engage the edges of the bar, thereby completing the rounding of the edges and simultaneously closing with a substantial thickness of soap the openings of the cavities Sufficient air is thusv trapped in the hollow cavities of the bar to make it float in water.

It will be noted in connection with this phase of my invention that upon insertion the displacing means do not pass entirely through the bar, nor do they enter sufficiently far to contact each other. In the preparation of the larger sizes of floating milled soap bars the degree of insertion of the displacing means is preferably limited so that a solid portion o-f soap remains in the center of the bar to impart rigidity to same.

In Figure 4a, I have shown a section through.

a miniature or hotel size bar of floating milled soap and in Figures 5a and 6a, I have shown diagrammatically a preferred process for making same. The process here employed is basically the same as that previously described in connection with the above aspect of my invention but is sufficiently different in detail to justify specific reference. l

In the preferredfprocess of making the miniature size floating milled soap bar, the blank bar of plodded soap in plastic condition is placed in die box I2a, provided with apertures I3a adapted to permit the insertion of displacing means Ida. The displacing means I4a are inserted through the apertures in one side of the die box provided as shown in Figure 5a, so that a sort of ledge of soap I9a is formed on the face of the bar containing the open ends of the cavities, which ledge, as will later be seen, is cornpressed to close the open ends of the cavities. Y

With the displacing means in position, the dies I5@ and I6a are brought into cake forming and stamping position. If desired the edges of the cake may be simultaneously rounded f in this operation.- The soap being somewhat plastic is forced around the displacing means Ida, thereby forming a substantially finished bar with cavities substantially midway between the top and bottom panels of the box as indicated at IIa. The displacing means Ma are then removed and, -with the stamping dies I5a and IEa in position, the cavity closing die 20a is brought into position as shown in Figure 6a, thereby crushing the portions of soap I9a together and closing the open end of the cavities thereby leaving within the cake of soap hollow spaces such as Ila. 'The dies I5a and IEa are removed and the iin- 'ished cake of soap discharged for subsequent wrapping.

.In both of the aboveV aspects of my invention the insertion of the displacing means and the stamping of the top and bottom panels of the bar may take place simultaneously, or substantially` so, without departing from the spirit of my invention. One of the essential features of my invention lies in the stamping of the top and bottom panels while the displacing means are in position. By following this procedure, I avoid difficulty of collapse such as is usually encountered in stamping plodded soap bars having preformed cavities.

No openings appear on the outer surface of the bar and consequently no soil .collects there in use. Furthermore, the bar formed in accordance with my invention shows no indication on the faces thereof that a cavity is present inside and to all appearances it is practically the same as the non-buoyant type of bar. Since the volume of the air cavity is substantially unchanged as the bar is gradually worn away in' use, the buoyant qualities of the bar increase rather than remain vunchanged or decrease as do some types of floating milled soap bars.

Although my invention may be practiced by forming but a single cavity, I prefer the use of a plurality of cavities since the presence of they ing therefore a specific gravity of 0.9, for example, it is necessary to`increase the volume of the cake about 14 to 15 per` cent by means of an air cavity or' a plurality of same.

In carrying out my invention I may employ displacing means having a thickness of about one-eighth inch and a width o-f approximately three-eighth inch and use a suflicient number to give the desired buoyancy. Of course, I may employ displacing means having any other type of cross section, for example a circular or elliptical or triangular type as well as the flat rec-.

tangular type shown in the drawing.

Although the drawing illustrates a soap bar having cavities extending from the sides or ends toward the center thereof, my invention is not limited to this specific disclosure. The cavities may extend from any face of the bar without departing from the spirit of my invention. However, I have observed that normally the ends of the bar are subjected to less wear than the sides or the top and bottom thereof and therefore nd it preferable to have the cavities extend from the ends and to have the walls defining the sides of the outer cavities, for example, those indicated at II in Figure 4, at least as thick as those walls defining the ends of the cavities, for the reason that the cavities will remain unexposed and the bar will retain its floating properties during a longer period of use.

It will be understood that the preferred forms of the invention described herein are merely illustrativev of the broad aspects of my invention and that I am not limited thereto. Furthermore I am not limited to any particular mechanical 'means lfor practicing the invention. The bars may be made by hand or by machine, either singly or in numbers, the invention residing in the steps of a process rather than in any mechanical means for accomplishing same.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: l

1. 'I'he process of forming a bar of milled toilet soap having floating properties, which comprises forcibly inserting displacing means only part Way through a blank, unperforated bar of said soap and simultaneously stamping same, thereby giving the soap bar substantially its final form with a cavity extending inward from only one face of the bar, withdrawing the displacing means and with stamping dies in stamping position to prevent deformation of the bar, stamping the face of the bar containing the opening of said cavity thereby closing said opening and forming within the bar a hollow space of suflicient size to reduce the apparent specific gravity of the bar to less than that of water.

2. 'I'he process of forming a bar of milled toilet soap having floating properties, which comprises forcibly inserting a plurality `of` displacing means only part way through a. blank, unperforated bar of said soap and simultaneously stamping same, thereby giving the soap bar substantially its ilnal form witha plurality of cavities extending inward from only one face of the bar, withdrawing the displacing means and with stamping dies in position to prevent deformation of the bar, stamping the face of the bar containing the openings of said cavities thereby closing said openings and forming Within the'bar a plurality of hollow spaces of suflicient size to reduce the apparent specific gravity of the bar to less than that of Water.

3. The process of forming a bar of milled toilet soap having floating properties, said bar being rendered buoyant by means of a confined air cavity, which comprises forcibly inserting dis? placing means into a blank, unperforated bar of plodded milled soap in slightly plastic condition, stamping said blank bar before the removal of said displacing means to shape the bar and form a ledge of soapy at the opening of said cavity substantially as described, removing said displacing means, and, with stamping dies in position to prevent deformation of said bancompressing said ledge thereby closing the opening of said cavity and forming within said bar a hollow space of sufficient size to reduce the apparent specific cavity of the bar to less than'that of water.

4. The process of forming a bar of milled toilet soap having floating properties, said bar being rendered buoyant by means of a plurality of confined air cavities, which comprises forcibly inserting a plurality of displacing means into a blank, unperforated bar of plodded vmilled soap in slightly plastic condition, stamping said blank bar before the removal of said displacing means to shape the bar and form a ledge of soap at the opening of each of said cavities substantially as described, removing said displacing means, and, with stamping dies-in position to prevent deformation of said bar, compressing the ledges thereby closing the opening@ of each of said cavities and forming within said bar a plurality of hollow spaces of suflicient size to reduce the apparent specific gravity of the bar to less than that ofwater.

5. The process of forming a bar of milled toilet soap having the property of floating in water, saidt bar being rendered buoyant by means of a confined air cavity of suflicient size to reduce the specific gravity of the bar to less than that of water, which comprises forcibly inserting displacing mean's into but only part way through a blank lbar of milled soap and simultaneously stamping same thereby preventing collapse of the cavity in stamping 'and forming a substantially finished bar around said displacing means,

and with stamping dies in stamping position said bar thereby closing the cavity opening with soap and entrapping air in. said cavity.

6. The process of forming a bar of milled toilet soap having the property of floating in water, said bar being rendered buoyant by means of a plurality of confined air cavities of suicient size and number to reduce the specific gravity of the bar to less than that of water, which comprises forcibly inserting a plurality of displacing means into but only part way through` a blank bar of milled soap and simultaneously stamping the top and bottom panels of same thereby preventing collapse of the cavities in stamping and forming a substantially finished bar around said displacing means, and with stamping dies in stamping position subsequently stamping the perforated face of said bar thereby closing the cavity openings with soap and entrapping air in said cavities.

7. 'Ihe process of forming a bar of milled toilet soap having floating properties, which comprises inserting displacing means in a blank bar of plodded milled soap from opposite ends thereof, thereby displacing internal portions of the soap in said blank bar and forming cavities open at one end, stamping said blank bar before said displacing means are removed, removing said displacing means, and stamping the outer edges of said bar thereby closing the open ends of saidicavities with soap and forming within said bar hollow spaces of suflicient size to reduce the apparent specific gravity of same to less than that of water.

8. The process of forming a bar of milled toilet soap having floating properties, said bar being f rendered buoyant by means of a plurality of confined air cavities, which comprises forming a plurality of cavities in said bar from opposite ends thereof and simultaneously stamping same thereby preventing collapse of said cavities in stamping, and subsequently stamping the edges of said bar thereby closing the openings with soap and entrapping air in said cavities.

9. The process of forming a bar of milled toilet soap having floating properties, said bar being rendered buoyant by means of a plurality of conned air cavities, which comprises inserting a plurality of displacing means in a blank bar of plodded milled vsoap from opposite ends thereof, thereby displacing internal portions of soap in said blank bar and forming cavities open at one end, stamping said blank bar before the said disthe soap in said blank bar and forming cavities y open at one end, stamping said blank bar before said displacing means are removed, removing said displacing means and stamping the outer edges of said bar thereby closing the open ends of said cavities with soap and forming within said bar hollow spaces of suiilcient size to reduce the apparent specific gravity of same to less than that of water.

11. The process of forming a bar of milled toilet soap having floating properties. which comprises inserting displacing means in a blank bar of plodded milled soap, stamping said blank bar before the removal of said displacing means thereby forming a substantially finished bar around said displacing means, removing said displacing means and, with stamping dies in stamping position, stamping the perforated face of said bar thereby closing the open end of said cavity with soap and forming within said bar a. hollow space of suiiicient size to reduce the apparent specific gravity of the bar to less than that of water.

12. The process of forming a bar of milled toilet soap having floating properties, which com- THOMAS S. EAGE'N. 

